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Contact: Anne Merydith-Wolf, Office of International Programs,(785) 864-4963

Art professor wins Provost's international leadership award

LAWRENCE -- A University of Kansas art professor will receive the third annual Provost's International Leadership Award at the opening reception of an exhibit of faculty art from the prestigious Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland at 1 p.m. Friday in the Art and Design Gallery.

Judith Burns McCrea, chair of the art department, will receive the $1,000 award recognizing her international leadership at KU. McCrea has made extraordinary efforts in creating new international exchanges and opportunities for the art department faculty and students, according to faculty nominating her for the award.

Known for her passionate belief that exposure to other cultures leads to growth and a maturity to see one's own culture differently, McCrea has traveled to Paraguay to teach and create art since the 1980s. As an administrator, she has relentlessly sought opportunities for faculty and students, setting up exchanges in Paraguay, England and Scotland and is working to create a program in Costa Rica.

Each year, she funds one art faculty member to spend one month in Paraguay to teach and create works for exhibition in Asuncion. The immersion in a foreign culture is evident in the new and daring directions that each artist was able to make in their work, says Tanya Hartman, assistant professor of painting and drawing. Hartman calls this exchange opportunity a brilliant conception.

McCrea has also received three international residency grants co-sponsored by the Mid-America Arts Alliance and the U. S. Information Agency to bring artists to KU from Paraguay, the Czech Republic and Denmark.

"These grants were highly competitive," says Diana Carlin, KU dean of the graduate school and international programs. "By sending faculty and students abroad, and bringing artists and art students to Lawrence, Professor McCrea has done an incredible job of internationalizing not only her department and curriculum, but allowing the exchange of cultures for the entire KU community."

Roger Shimomura, KU distinguished professor of art, says "Judy's efforts to foster international activities in the art department have not only been relevant in academe and today's world, but has made our department one of the forerunners on a national and, indeed, international level."

Recently, McCrea has established an exchange with the Edinburgh College of Art. The college has one of the world's most respected art programs and for the past 20 years has had an exclusive partnership in the United States with Yale University while refusing requests from all other U.S. universities. This new exchange will be inaugurated with an exhibit of faculty art work from Edinburgh, Sunday, Sept. 23 through Saturday, Oct. 6, during KU's open house.

"Professor McCrea has exhibited extraordinary energy in internationalizing the art department and achieved remarkable results," says Paul D'Anieri, associate dean of international programs and member of the awards committee.

The Provost's award was created in 1999 to recognize KU faculty members on the Lawrence campus who have provided outstanding leadership in strengthening KU's international dimension.